M6 and Canal Plus win FFF rights as fee swells

M6, the French free-to-air commercial broadcaster, and Canal Plus, the pay-TV broadcaster, have emerged victorious in an invitation to tender process run by the French Football Federation.

The FFF has awarded rights to the French women’s national team to M6, while Canal Plus has landed rights to the women’s top-tier D1 Féminine and the French youth teams, from under-16 through to under-21.

The three rights packages have been awarded for five seasons from 2018-19 onwards and the FFF has succeeded in generating a total of €5.4 million ($6.4 million) per year, three times the value of the fees currently ascribed to the rights, according to L’Equipe.

Interested broadcasters submitted their second-round bids on Friday in a tender process that was launched on 10 October.

Canal Plus is the incumbent rights-holder for the women's national team and under-21 team games, showcasing the matches on free-to-air digital terrestrial channels C8 and Canal Star.

The pay-TV broadcaster and rival SFR Sport are both believed to have vied with M6 for the national team rights, while BeIN Sports is thought to have pursued the D1 Féminine rights.

Rights to the women’s top-tier league are currently included in the FFF’s agreement with France Télévisions, the public-service network, and Eurosport France, the French arm of the pan-European sports broadcaster, for the men’s Coupe de France. The duo pay a total of around €200,000 per year for the rights to the women's league.

Following Friday’s second-round bid deadline, the rights were awarded after "certain additional clarifications" were provided to the FFF.

Interest in the French women’s national team has heightened in recent years, so much so that TF1, the free-to-air commercial broadcaster, agreed a deal worth around €10 million for the rights to the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup, which will be held on home soil.

The fee compares to the figure of just under €1 million paid by W9, the sister digital terrestrial channel of M6, and Eurosport France for rights to the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which was held in Canada and netted impressive viewing figures in the French market.